{ From Notorious to Prestigious }

Charles W. Colson was notorious during the Nixon presidency and Watergate scandal of the 1970’s.

“I would walk over my own grandmother to make sure Richard M. Nixon gets re-elected.” he said at one point during the campaign. He was a self-described “hatchet man”– cutting off and discrediting officials, politicians and activists that were a threat to the White House.

In the midst of this crisis, Mr. Colson underwent a profound religious transformation in August 1973. He was, as his book puts it: BORN AGAIN.

Against the advice of his lawyers, Mr. Colson pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

“This is a price I had to pay to complete the shedding of my old life and to be free to live the new.”

He went to jail for seven months and was released on parole.

His incarceration introduced him to embittered, revengeful, escape-hungry prisoners.

Before prison, this ivy leaguer never would have encountered such folks within his own sheltered circles.

Charles Colson became a dedicated advocate for prison reform. He befriended prisoners and introduced them to a lasting faith in Christ. He publicly opposed the death penalty and called for alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, who make up a hefty portion of the prison population.

In 1993, he was awarded the prestigious Templeton Prize, which is given each year to the person who has done the most to advance the cause of religion.

He passed away on April 12, 2012.

He climbed from Notorious to Prestigious — and he never looked back.

How did this it happen?

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

John 8: 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.